Amen. Man, I don't know how it's been for you the last few weeks, the last month, but Christmas has sort of snuck up on me. But it's here, so might as well make the most of it, right? I uh I love Christmas. And honestly, I'm I'm so grateful for the opportunity every single year for us to have this moment. Because there's something about this time of year that's so crazy. Like we're we're going all over the place. So many of us have so many things on our schedule. We're going, you know, from here to somewhere else. Maybe you came here from somewhere else. Maybe the reason you chose this gathering is because of the other things going on in your life. It's just such a busy time. And sometimes when Christmas gets busy, it becomes really hard for us just to stop and remember what it is all about. The fact that Jesus came into this world and changed this world, like absolutely revolutionarily changed this world, it becomes periphery to everything else going on. And that happens to me as well. It's happened to me this year probably more than it ever has before. And so we get together to celebrate Jesus, to celebrate Christmas. We get together to reflect on what he did when he came into this world. We get together to talk about it, even though it's a story we already know. Like it's it's a story. You guys know the story. Even if you don't believe in the story of Christmas, you don't believe that Jesus is God's son, you just maybe understand it as a historical moment, or maybe even just as a myth. You know the story. My three-year-old knows the story. Mostly. You know? She doesn't know all of it. My three-year-old Lily, this last year we were decorating for Christmas, so this is like a month ago, two months ago. And she wanted to help us decorate this year. She thinks it's fun, she thinks it's very adult-like to do, and she wanted to handle the nativity. And so my daughter is kind of like me. She's a verbal processor, so she is saying whatever she is thinking all the time. And uh, it's nice for me to understand how annoying it is to live with me, so it's good. I'm glad that God's done that. Um, but like she's she's putting the nativity out and she's grabbing each piece from the box and she's setting it up and she's doing a pretty good job. Like, she pulls out Jesus and she says, Here's the baby. She puts baby Jesus where he goes, roughly. And then she pulls out Joseph and she says, Here's the daddy, and she puts Joseph down where he goes. Then she pulls out one of the wise men and she goes, Here's the sheriff, and she puts the wise man there. And I have no idea why he's the sheriff. We're not certain if local law enforcement was called to the scene when Jesus was born or not, but I don't think it's historically accurate. It's okay though. She gets the gist of it. This is a story that everyone knows, even if you're three. And sometimes it's those stories, it's the most common stories, the ones we've heard so many times that have the greatest potential to lose their impact, even though they might be the most amazing story we've ever heard. And so I'm grateful for an opportunity to get together and reflect on this story. Because it's changed the world and it's changed my life, and I know it's changed the lives of so many of us here. The song we just sang was, God rest ye, Mary Gentlemen. It's an old song. You know a song's old when the word ye is in the title. Like they don't really do that anymore. But this song's incredibly old. We're talking centuries and centuries old. We don't even know how old it really is, but it's at least 200 years old. And there's a phrase that we sang over and over again in that song, tidings of comfort and joy. Tidings of comfort and joy. That's a phrase that's become synonymous with Christmas. And it's a play on something that some angels said to some shepherds the night that Jesus was born. We see this story in Luke chapter 2. It says, That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. And suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them, and of course they were terrified. This always happens, by the way, in the Bible when angels show up. People freak out. Okay? But the angel reassured them, don't be afraid. He's like, chill out, man, you're scared of the sheep. Just relax. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior, yes, the Messiah, the Lord, has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David. A Savior has been born. He says, I bring you good news of great joy. In some translations, it says, I bring you good tidings of great joy, and it's that phrase, good tidings of great joy, that's become tidings of comfort and joy, and those are now the buzzwords of Christmas. Right? When you buy a stocking or a Christmas ornament, it's words like hope, it's words like peace, it's tidings of comfort and joy, even though our Christmas experience doesn't always match the buzzwords. Sometimes it feels better to say tidings of worry and stress. You know? Hey, it's Christmas. So if you weren't busy yet, here you go, right? How about tidings of craziness and debt? Sometimes that seems like that would be so much more accurate, but no, it's tidings of comfort and joy. And the reality is, no matter how life is going for you right now, no matter how the season of life has been for you, maybe it has been crazy, maybe it's been exhausting, maybe you are so ready for this just to be done. I believe God wants you to have comfort today. And I believe God wants you to experience joy today because Jesus came to give us comfort and joy. You know, I think about these words, these two words have been on my mind a lot. They've been the words we decided to go with this year for Christmas, the words God put on our heart. And I find it so funny that the word comfort can be associated with Jesus' entry into this world because, like, if there's one word I would not use to describe pregnancy and birth, it would be comfort. My wife's pregnant right now, right this very second. Yeah, everyone, you can clap. That's fine. Such a funny thing to clap for, right? Like, you did it. It's our fourth child. There's all always way fewer claps at that moment. That's okay. But we've actually been pregnant, mainly her, but us together have been pregnant for three of the last five Christmases. So pregnancy and Christmas are pretty much synonymous with us right now. And and it's funny, of all the things I would use to describe Megan and her state right now, comfort is not a word that would even begin to come out of my mouth. Because I know 100% right now she is not comfortable. Someone just amen me. That's good. Like she's not. We've gotten to the point now where I don't even ask her how she's feeling because that's a stupid question to ask. To walk up to a pregnant woman and go, How do you feel? It's just a dumb question. A tiny human being is kicking her in the bladder repeatedly, every single day. She's not comfortable. And you know what? I doubt the baby's comfortable either. I've seen the ultrasound pictures. It is not roomy in there, you know? And this baby's about to come into this world, and you know what? Being a baby, being a child, it's not really comfortable. Our daughter, our three-year-old, the one I mentioned earlier, the one with the sheriff, she uh she told us she's so excited about this new baby. And we asked her why, and she said, because now I have two babies to be the boss of. And uh, and I love my little girl, I would not work for her for a day. Like I would never want her to be my boss at all. So, this this this new child, they're gonna have some things to work on, they're gonna have some some challenges to overcome. Life is not comfortable. And it's crazy to think about the fact that at one point in time that was Jesus. Like when I look at that ultrasound picture of the child that's about to come into this world, at one point in time, that was the experience of God. And you know what? If you think of Jesus just as a historical figure, that's not that spectacular. Okay, great, he was a it was a baby, he was born, that's kind of what happens to everyone. But if you believe that Jesus is more than just a person, if you believe that he's the son of God, even if you just believe that's possible, it takes on a whole new meaning. Because what that means is that Jesus left the comfort of heaven to be born. That means that Jesus gave up and sacrificed the comfort of heaven. I mean, I've never been to heaven, but I imagine it's pretty nice. I imagine it's it's pretty comfortable, and I imagine that if you're in heaven and you're the son of God, it's really nice. Because you're reigning in heaven, you're worshipped in heaven, you're adored in heaven, you're glorified in heaven, and Jesus set that aside to be born. Philippians chapter 2 puts it really well. It's a letter in the Bible. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges and he took the humble position of a slave, and he was born as a human being. Jesus exchanged a throne in heaven for a womb on earth. That is not an upgrade, if you're wondering. Jesus traded comfort for discomfort. And the reason is really simple, just because he loves you. Because when you really love someone, like when you really love someone, you will gladly sacrifice your own comfort so that you can comfort them. When you really love someone, you will lay your own personal comfort aside so you can bring comfort to them. And I'm telling you today that if you need some comfort, Jesus wants to bring you comfort. We spend so much time as people trying to get comfortable. We spend so much of our time and our energy and our resources trying to make our lives more comfortable, but in reality, we don't need to be comfortable, we need to be comforted. And Jesus brings comfort. Jesus brings comfort because Jesus understands, because Jesus has lived our life, because Jesus knows how we feel, he understands our experience, and no matter what you're going through, no matter how good, no matter how how rough, Jesus can look you in the eye and he can say, I get it, and I love you, and I'm with you, and take courage because I've got this. Jesus himself said that in this world you will have many troubles, but do not fear, take heart, be filled with courage. I have overcome the world. And if you've never accepted Jesus, if you don't have that relationship with him, I'm telling you, there is no comfort greater than knowing that whatever's in front of you, he's got it. So take comfort. I think about the word joy, and I really struggled with this one. I I don't think I've really enjoyed the last few months like I should. That happens sometimes. You look back and you go, have I have I stopped to enjoy my life? Or have I just been living it so fast that I've forgotten to take it in and even realize how good it is? And so as I was preparing for today, I'm like, joy, you know, joy, okay, joy. Woo, here we go. What's that about? And I was trying really hard to pull from an experience in my life in the last few months where I can say I was legitimately filled with joy, and I just I hate to admit this, but I couldn't think of one. And it's not because I've had a hard life the last few months, it's been relatively great. It's just I've been busy and I haven't stopped to enjoy life. And so I had to stop and think, okay, well, who do I know that has experienced joy in the last in the last few months as I've interacted with him? And one person came to my mind, it's the person I know who experiences more joy than anyone else I've ever met. His name's Judah, and he's one and a half years old. He's my son. He doesn't have a lot of pressure, you know, he's one and a half, not many cares. I keep telling him, like, now's the time to invest, man. You're young, buy some Bitcoin, like get on it, but he doesn't seem interested, he's just doing his thing. But Judah, Judah loves life. Like he smiles and it takes over his entire face. And he laughs and it is out of control. Like if an adult person smiled and laughed like Judah, you would think they're they're off. Like they're stay away from that person, you know? As we get older, we learn how to temper joy. But when you're young, like you got it. And I was thinking about the moments where Judah has the most joy, and you know what? It's not the moments when he's playing with a toy that he really likes. It's not the moments when he's watching uh his favorite show, which is, by the way, high five, which is like an Australian version of the wiggles, and it's terrible and it's awful, and it's on Netflix, and I hate it. Um, you know, but it's there and he loves it, so you know, when you love someone, you sacrifice your own comfort so they're comfortable. Okay. The moments that Judah is filled with the most joy are the moments when he knows that he's being enjoyed by us. He's at that age where he wants us to watch him all the time. He wants to know that he has our attention. And so he'll say things like, hey, watch, watch, and then he'll just do something. And in his mind, it's amazing. We'll clap for him, we'll cheer for him. And he laughs at dinner, he basically turns into a performer. He will stand up in his high chair and he does this thing when he's eating. He's just learned that we laugh. There's no there's no knowing when it's gonna come. He'll just sort of rise up, he'll scan the table, and he'll do this. Just like that. And we die, like we laugh, and he just laughs like I did it again. I'm so funny, I'm so good. And in those moments, like the look on his face, the joy that he's feeling, if I could have that, and it's all because he knows that in that moment he is enjoyed, that he's cherished, that he's treasured. The book of Ephesians, Paul wrote this even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. And this is talking about the Christmas story, his entrance into this world, his mission in this world. It says that God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And we all know what that means. We know that means sacrificing everything being born, that means the cross, that means all the painful things he endured. But check this out this is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. That means that Jesus loves you so much that he enjoyed the idea of sacrificing everything and coming to this world to know you. You are what brings him joy. And if you want to experience real joy, sit for a moment and reflect on the fact that the God of the universe enjoys you. That the God of the universe looks at you and laughs and smiles. So often we think that the things we do must annoy God. And maybe a few of them do. But but it's amazing. I love at Christmas, I love that we have all the kids in the room because we got a lot of kids at this church. You guys are very productive people, and that's great. Um, and this is the one time of the year that we're all in the same room, and it's just a little louder than normal, you know? And and you know, we'll have occasional screams, and we'll have we'll have occasional moments where you know kids are just making noise, and it's funny. When you're a parent of a child who's doing that, you kind of freak out. And you're sort of like, oh no, like you're holding a grenade. You're like, ah, this is you know, that's how you feel. But if you could give it away, you're like, it's not mine. It's you know. But it's funny if if you're if you're someone sitting around a child and they do that, you don't you don't turn around and go, like, stupid kid. And if you do, stop it. But like, no, you look at a child and and what what would be really annoying behavior from an adult? You look at that child and you just you laugh. And you have compassion. And and you look at them and you even find you find it sort of endearing. And and it's crazy. We don't often think of ourselves like that when it comes to God. You know, but if you're 50 and a three-year-old looks young to you, imagine how young you must look to God. He enjoys you. And maybe you felt like you've let him down, maybe you feel like, you know, he's just not that it. I you don't really know him, you don't understand him. It God's been hard for you. Maybe you're here today because someone invited you and God's always been sort of this, I don't really know how to do all that. I believe that God wants you to know today that he enjoys you. That all he wants is to know you. All he wants is for you to know what it's like to be his child and to know that you have his attention, that he is watching you, that he loves you, and he takes joy in you, that he beams over you more than I beam over my boy. Comfort and joy. We need we need that. You cannot buy comfort online. Amazon Prime does not ship joy within two days, okay? Although I'm sure they'll find a way in the next few years. There's only there's only one source of true comfort and true joy that I've experienced. His name's Jesus. And over 2,000 years ago, he gave up the comfort of heaven to bring comfort to this world. Over 2,000 years ago, he endured more pain and suffering than we can imagine so that he could bring a smile to our face, so that he could fill us with joy. I'm telling you, he is real, he is everything, he is the reason we exist. He's not just the reason for Christmas, he's the reason for life. And you can know him. If you do know him, enjoy him. Take comfort in him. If you don't know him, have him because he wants you. Pray with me. Jesus, I thank you so much for tonight, today, this afternoon, whatever time it is. Usually we meet in the mornings and I'm all thrown off. Lord, I just want to thank you for a chance to stop and reflect on what you've done for us. The sacrifice that you made for us. You know, we don't we don't tend to think of your birth as a sacrifice, we tend to think of your death that way, Lord, and that's true. But when you were born, you had given up so much already. And you sacrificed all of that, all the comfort of heaven for us, so that you could bring us comfort. You went through so much hardship, so much pain, just so you could bring us joy, so that we could know that you are paying attention to us, that you do see us, you see our challenges, you see our hurts, you see our brokenness, and you have compassion on us and you love us and you want to turn our morning into joy. I pray, Lord, right now that if there's one person that doesn't know you in this room, that right now in their heart they just say, Okay, I'm in. Thank you for bringing us together, Lord. Thank you for the gift of Christmas. Thank you for the comfort and joy that you bring. Help us experience more and more of that over the coming day and the coming moments as we continue to celebrate you, Lord. We ask this all in your name, Jesus. Amen.